Methods and graphical user interfaces for conducting searches on a portable multifunction device

Title: Methods and graphical user interfaces for conducting searches on a portable multifunction device.Abstract: In accordance with some embodiments, a graphical user interface on a portable multifunction device with a touch screen display includes: an application interface of an application that includes an application interface region with an edge; and a search input area for entering a search query for the application. In response to detecting a movement of an object on or near the touch screen display, the application interface region is translated on the touch screen display in a first direction. In response to the edge of the application interface region being crossed while translating the application interface region in the first direction while the object is still detected on or near the touch screen display, the edge of the application interface region is displayed, and the search input area is displayed in an area beyond the application interface region. ...

This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/242,888, filed Sep. 30, 2008, claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/033,785, “Methods and Graphical User Interfaces for Conducting Searches on a Portable Multifunction Device,” filed Mar. 4, 2008, the content of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosed embodiments relate generally to portable multifunction devices, and more particularly, to conducting searches on portable multifunction devices.

BACKGROUND

As portable electronic devices become more compact, and the number of functions performed by a given device increase, it has become a significant challenge to design a user interface that allows users to easily interact with a multifunction device. This challenge is particular significant for handheld portable devices, which have much smaller screens than desktop or laptop computers. This situation is unfortunate because the user interface is the gateway through which users receive not only content but also responses to user actions or behaviors, including user attempts to access a device's features, tools, and functions. Some portable communication devices (e.g., mobile telephones, sometimes called mobile phones, cell phones, cellular telephones, and the like) have resorted to adding more pushbuttons, increasing the density of push buttons, overloading the functions of pushbuttons, or using complex menu systems to allow a user to access, store and manipulate data. These conventional user interfaces often result in complicated key sequences and menu hierarchies that must be memorized by the user.

Many conventional user interfaces, such as those that include physical pushbuttons, are also inflexible. This is unfortunate because it may prevent a user interface from being configured and/or adapted by either an application running on the portable device or by users. When coupled with the time consuming requirement to memorize multiple key sequences and menu hierarchies, and the difficulty in activating a desired pushbutton, such inflexibility is frustrating to most users.

Some portable, multifunction electronic devices provide a number of user applications, such as email, contacts, and calendar applications. Due to limitations in the user interfaces of such devices, it is often challenging for users to search for items of interest within these applications. For example, it can be inconvenient to enter text, including search terms, using a phone-style keypad. Also, the search functionality, if any, provided on many of these devices is generally not well-integrated with the respective user applications. For instance, some multifunction devices require a user to enter search terms on a search form that is separate from the application in which a search is to be conducted, which provides very little user context or interactivity for user search term selection and/or entry.

In addition, given that many portable multifunction devices (such as smart phones) have limited memory, these devices generally store locally only a subset of the information associated with some applications, such as email. In one example, a smart phone might store in its local memory a hundred or fewer emails associated with a user email account that includes thousands of emails stored on a server. A user might want to search all of these emails, or just the ones stored locally, but the ability to selectively search application data stored in different locations is not generally provided on smart phones or other multifunction electronic devices.

Accordingly, there is a need for portable multifunction devices with more transparent and intuitive user interfaces for providing search functionality. Such interfaces increase the effectiveness, efficiency and user satisfaction with portable multifunction devices.

SUMMARY

The above deficiencies and other problems associated with user interfaces for portable devices are reduced or eliminated by the disclosed portable multifunction device. In some embodiments, the device has a touch-sensitive display (also known as a “touch screen”) with a graphical user interface (GUI), one or more processors, memory and one or more modules, programs or sets of instructions stored in the memory for performing multiple functions. In some embodiments, the user interacts with the GUI primarily through finger contacts and gestures on the touch-sensitive display. In some embodiments, the functions may include telephoning, video conferencing, e-mailing, instant messaging, blogging, digital photographing, digital videoing, web browsing, digital music playing, and/or digital video playing (sometimes collectively referred to as digital media playing functions). In some embodiments, these functions are provided by one or more applications that execute on the device. In some embodiments, a search facility is provided that enables a user of the device to search for information associated with a variety of the above functions (or applications). The search facility can employ different attributes of a touch interface (including a touch screen) to facilitate intuitive user interaction with the search facility. In some embodiments, the search facility allows users to search different locations for information associated with a particular application, including locally (on the device), on a server, or on both locations simultaneously, or sequentially. Instructions for performing these functions, including the search facilities, may be included in a computer program product configured for execution by one or more processors.

In accordance with some embodiments, a computer-implemented method is performed at a portable multifunction device with a touch screen display. The computer-implemented method includes: detecting a movement of an object on or near the touch screen display while displaying an application interface of an application on the touch screen display; in response to detecting the movement of the object, translating an application interface region displayed on the touch screen display in a first direction; detecting an edge of the application interface region being crossed while translating the application interface region in the first direction while the object is still detected on or near the touch screen display; and, in response to the edge of the application interface region being crossed while translating the application interface region in the first direction while the object is still detected on or near the touch screen display, displaying the edge of the application interface region, and displaying a search input area in an area beyond the application interface region. The search input area is for entering a search query for the application.

In accordance with some embodiments, a graphical user interface on a portable multifunction device with a touch screen display includes: an application interface of an application that includes an application interface region with an edge; and a search input area for entering a search query for the application. In response to detecting a movement of an object on or near the touch screen display, the application interface region is translated on the touch screen display in a first direction. In response to the edge of the application interface region being crossed while translating the application interface region in the first direction while the object is still detected on or near the touch screen display, the edge of the application interface region is displayed, and the search input area is displayed in an area beyond the application interface region.

In accordance with some embodiments, a portable computing device includes: a touch screen display; one or more processors; memory; and one or more programs. The one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors. The one or more programs include instructions for: detecting a movement of an object on or near the touch screen display while displaying an application interface of an application on the touch screen display; in response to detecting the movement of the object, translating an application interface region displayed on the touch screen display in a first direction; detecting an edge of the application interface region being crossed while translating the application interface region in the first direction while the object is still detected on or near the touch screen display; and, in response to the edge of the application interface region being crossed while translating the application interface region in the first direction while the object is still detected on or near the touch screen display, displaying the edge of the application interface region, and displaying a search input area in an area beyond the application interface region. The search input area is for entering a search query for the application.

In accordance with some embodiments, a computer readable storage medium has stored therein instructions, which when executed by a portable multifunction device with a touch screen display, cause the portable multifunction device to: detect a movement of an object on or near the touch screen display while displaying an application interface of an application on the touch screen display; in response to detecting the movement of the object, translate an application interface region displayed on the touch screen display in a first direction; detect an edge of the application interface region being crossed while translating the application interface region in the first direction while the object is still detected on or near the touch screen display; and, in response to the edge of the application interface region being crossed while translating the application interface region in the first direction while the object is still detected on or near the touch screen display, display the edge of the application interface region, and display a search input area in an area beyond the application interface region. The search input area is for entering a search query for the application.

In accordance with some embodiments, a portable multifunction device with a touch screen display includes: means for detecting a movement of an object on or near the touch screen display while displaying an application interface of an application on the touch screen display; means for, in response to detecting the movement of the object, translating an application interface region displayed on the touch screen display in a first direction; means for detecting an edge of the application interface region being crossed while translating the application interface region in the first direction while the object is still detected on or near the touch screen display; and means for, in response to the edge of the application interface region being crossed while translating the application interface region in the first direction while the object is still detected on or near the touch screen display, displaying the edge of the application interface region, and displaying a search input area in an area beyond the application interface region. The search input area is for entering a search query for the application.

In accordance with some embodiments, a portable computing device includes: one or more processors; a touch screen display; and memory storing a plurality of applications, including email, calendar, and contacts applications. The memory stores respective search input interfaces for the email, calendar, and contacts applications. Each search input interface is for entering a search query for the respective application. Each of the email, calendar, and contacts applications having an application interface region for simultaneous display with the corresponding search input interface.

In accordance with some embodiments, a computer-implemented method is performed at a portable multifunction device with a display. The computer-implemented method includes: displaying an application on the display; while displaying the application, entering a search mode for the application; while in the search mode for the application, receiving a search query for the application; displaying the search query in a search input area on the display; and, in response to receiving the search query: performing a search within the application for fields of application records with field values that include the search query, and displaying a list of search results. Each search result in the displayed list of search results corresponds to a unique combination of field and field value that includes the search query. At least one of the search results corresponds to a plurality of application records that match the search query. The computer-implemented method further includes: detecting selection of a particular search result in the list of search results, the particular search result corresponding to a particular field value in a particular field; and, in response to detecting selection of the particular search result in the list of search results: replacing display of the list of search results with display of a list of record descriptors for application records that have the particular field value in the particular field if more than one application record has the particular field value in the particular field, and replacing display of the list of search results with display of an application record that has the particular field value in the particular field if only one application record has the particular field value in the particular field.

In accordance with some embodiments, a portable multifunction device includes: a display; one or more processors; memory; and one or more programs. The one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors. The one or more programs include instructions for: displaying an application on the display; while displaying the application, entering a search mode for the application; while in the search mode for the application, receiving a search query for the application; displaying the search query in a search input area on the display; and, in response to receiving the search query: performing a search within the application for fields of application records with field values that include the search query, and displaying a list of search results. Each search result in the displayed list of search results corresponds to a unique combination of field and field value that includes the search query. At least one of the search results corresponds to a plurality of application records that match the search query. The one or more programs further include instructions for: detecting selection of a particular search result in the list of search results, the particular search result corresponding to a particular field value in a particular field; and, in response to detecting selection of the particular search result in the list of search results: replacing display of the list of search results with display of a list of record descriptors for application records that have the particular field value in the particular field if more than one application record has the particular field value in the particular field, and replacing display of the list of search results with display of an application record that has the particular field value in the particular field if only one application record has the particular field value in the particular field.

In accordance with some embodiments, a computer readable storage medium has stored therein instructions, which when executed by a portable multifunction device with a display, cause the portable multifunction device to: display an application on the display; while displaying the application, enter a search mode for the application; while in the search mode for the application, receive a search query for the application; display the search query in a search input area on the display; and, in response to receiving the search query: perform a search within the application for fields of application records with field values that include the search query, and display a list of search results. Each search result in the displayed list of search results corresponds to a unique combination of field and field value that includes the search query. At least one of the search results corresponds to a plurality of application records that match the search query. The instructions further cause the portable multifunction device to: detect selection of a particular search result in the list of search results, the particular search result corresponding to a particular field value in a particular field; and, in response to detecting selection of the particular search result in the list of search results: replace display of the list of search results with display of a list of record descriptors for application records that have the particular field value in the particular field if more than one application record has the particular field value in the particular field, and replace display of the list of search results with display of an application record that has the particular field value in the particular field if only one application record has the particular field value in the particular field.

In accordance with some embodiments, a portable multifunction device with a touch screen display includes: means for displaying an application on the display; while displaying the application, means for entering a search mode for the application; while in the search mode for the application, means for receiving a search query for the application; means for displaying the search query in a search input area on the display; and, in response to receiving the search query: means for performing a search within the application for fields of application records with field values that include the search query, and means for displaying a list of search results. Each search result in the displayed list of search results corresponds to a unique combination of field and field value that includes the search query. At least one of the search results corresponds to a plurality of application records that match the search query. The portable multifunction device further includes: means for detecting selection of a particular search result in the list of search results, the particular search result corresponding to a particular field value in a particular field; and, in response to detecting selection of the particular search result in the list of search results: means for replacing display of the list of search results with display of a list of record descriptors for application records that have the particular field value in the particular field if more than one application record has the particular field value in the particular field, and means for replacing display of the list of search results with display of an application record that has the particular field value in the particular field if only one application record has the particular field value in the particular field.

Thus, a portable multifunction device is provided with a more efficient and intuitive methods and user interfaces for conducting searches.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the aforementioned embodiments of the invention as well as additional embodiments thereof, reference should be made to the Description of Embodiments below, in conjunction with the following drawings in which like reference numerals refer to corresponding parts throughout the figures.

FIGS. 1A and 1B are block diagrams illustrating portable multifunction devices with touch-sensitive displays in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates a portable multifunction device having a touch screen in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary user interface for unlocking a portable electronic device in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate exemplary user interfaces for a menu of applications on a portable multifunction device in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 5A-5I illustrate exemplary user interfaces for a search facility for use with an email application in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 6A-6D illustrate exemplary user interfaces for a search facility for use with a contacts application in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 7A-7H illustrate exemplary user interfaces for a search facility for use with a calendar application in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 8A-8E illustrate exemplary user interfaces for a search facility for use with a notes application in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 9A-9H illustrate exemplary user interfaces for a search facility for use with a media player application in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 10A-10B illustrate exemplary user interfaces for a search facility for use with an instant messaging application in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 11A-11C are flow diagrams illustrating a method of searching application data in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 12A-12B are flow diagrams illustrating a method of searching application data in accordance with some embodiments.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components, circuits, and networks have not been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the embodiments.

It will also be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first gesture could be termed a second gesture, and, similarly, a second gesture could be termed a first gesture, without departing from the scope of the present invention.

The terminology used in the description of the invention herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used in the description of the invention and the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will also be understood that the term “and/or” as used herein refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof

Embodiments of a portable multifunction device, user interfaces for such devices, and associated processes for using such devices are described. In some embodiments, the device is a portable communications device such as a mobile telephone that also contains other functions, such as PDA and/or music player functions.

The user interface may include a physical click wheel in addition to a touch screen or a virtual click wheel displayed on the touch screen. A click wheel is a user-interface device that may provide navigation commands based on an angular displacement of the wheel or a point of contact with the wheel by a user of the device. A click wheel may also be used to provide a user command corresponding to selection of one or more items, for example, when the user of the device presses down on at least a portion of the wheel or the center of the wheel. Alternatively, breaking contact with a click wheel image on a touch screen surface may indicate a user command corresponding to selection. For simplicity, in the discussion that follows, a portable multifunction device that includes a touch screen is used as an exemplary embodiment. It should be understood, however, that some of the user interfaces and associated processes may be applied to other devices, such as personal computers and laptop computers that may include one or more other physical user-interface devices, such as a physical click wheel, a physical keyboard, a mouse and/or a joystick.

The device supports a variety of applications, such as one or more of the following: a telephone application, a video conferencing application, an e-mail application, an instant messaging application, a blogging application, a digital camera application, a digital video camera application, a web browsing application, a digital music player application, a digital video player application, a calendar application, a notes application, and a contacts application.

The various applications that may be executed on the device may use at least one common physical user-interface device, such as the touch screen. One or more functions of the touch screen as well as corresponding information displayed on the device may be adjusted and/or varied from one application to the next and/or within a respective application. In this way, a common physical architecture (such as the touch screen) of the device may support the variety of applications with user interfaces that are intuitive and transparent.

The user interfaces may include one or more soft keyboard embodiments. The soft keyboard embodiments may include standard (QWERTY) and/or non-standard configurations of symbols on the displayed icons of the keyboard, such as those described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/459,606, “Keyboards For Portable Electronic Devices,” filed Jul. 24, 2006, and Ser. No. 11/459,615, “Touch Screen Keyboards For Portable Electronic Devices,” filed Jul. 24, 2006, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. The keyboard embodiments may include a reduced number of icons (or soft keys) relative to the number of keys in existing physical keyboards, such as that for a typewriter. This may make it easier for users to select one or more icons in the keyboard, and thus, one or more corresponding symbols. The keyboard embodiments may be adaptive. For example, displayed icons may be modified in accordance with user actions, such as selecting one or more icons and/or one or more corresponding symbols. One or more applications on the portable device may utilize common and/or different keyboard embodiments. Thus, the keyboard embodiment used may be tailored to at least some of the applications. In some embodiments, one or more keyboard embodiments may be tailored to a respective user. For example, one or more keyboard embodiments may be tailored to a respective user based on a word usage history (lexicography, slang, individual usage) of the respective user. Some of the keyboard embodiments may be adjusted to reduce a probability of a user error when selecting one or more icons, and thus one or more symbols, when using the soft keyboard embodiments.

Attention is now directed towards embodiments of the device. FIGS. 1A and 1B are block diagrams illustrating portable multifunction devices 100 with touch-sensitive displays 112 in accordance with some embodiments. The touch-sensitive display 112 is sometimes called a “touch screen” for convenience, and may also be known as or called a touch-sensitive display system. The device 100 may include a memory 102 (which may include one or more computer readable storage mediums), a memory controller 122, one or more processing units (CPU's) 120, a peripherals interface 118, RF circuitry 108, audio circuitry 110, a speaker 111, a microphone 113, an input/output (I/O) subsystem 106, other input or control devices 116, and an external port 124. The device 100 may include one or more optical sensors 164. These components may communicate over one or more communication buses or signal lines 103.

It should be appreciated that the device 100 is only one example of a portable multifunction device 100, and that the device 100 may have more or fewer components than shown, may combine two or more components, or a may have a different configuration or arrangement of the components. The various components shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B may be implemented in hardware, software or a combination of both hardware and software, including one or more signal processing and/or application specific integrated circuits.

Memory 102 may include high-speed random access memory and may also include non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid-state memory devices. Access to memory 102 by other components of the device 100, such as the CPU 120 and the peripherals interface 118, may be controlled by the memory controller 122.

The peripherals interface 118 couples the input and output peripherals of the device to the CPU 120 and memory 102. The one or more processors 120 run or execute various software programs and/or sets of instructions stored in memory 102 to perform various functions for the device 100 and to process data.

In some embodiments, the peripherals interface 118, the CPU 120, and the memory controller 122 may be implemented on a single chip, such as a chip 104. In some other embodiments, they may be implemented on separate chips.

The RF (radio frequency) circuitry 108 receives and sends RF signals, also called electromagnetic signals. The RF circuitry 108 converts electrical signals to/from electromagnetic signals and communicates with communications networks and other communications devices via the electromagnetic signals. The RF circuitry 108 may include well-known circuitry for performing these functions, including but not limited to an antenna system, an RF transceiver, one or more amplifiers, a tuner, one or more oscillators, a digital signal processor, a CODEC chipset, a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, memory, and so forth. The RF circuitry 108 may communicate with networks, such as the Internet, also referred to as the World Wide Web (WWW), an intranet and/or a wireless network, such as a cellular telephone network, a wireless local area network (LAN) and/or a metropolitan area network (MAN), and other devices by wireless communication. The wireless communication may use any of a plurality of communications standards, protocols and technologies, including but not limited to Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA), wideband code division multiple access (W-CDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), Bluetooth, Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) (e.g., IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g and/or IEEE 802.11n), voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Wi-MAX, a protocol for email (e.g., Internet message access protocol (IMAP) and/or post office protocol (POP)), instant messaging (e.g., extensible messaging and presence protocol (XMPP), Session Initiation Protocol for Instant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions (SIMPLE), and/or Instant Messaging and Presence Service (IMPS)), and/or Short Message Service (SMS)), or any other suitable communication protocol, including communication protocols not yet developed as of the filing date of this document.

The audio circuitry 110, the speaker 111, and the microphone 113 provide an audio interface between a user and the device 100. The audio circuitry 110 receives audio data from the peripherals interface 118, converts the audio data to an electrical signal, and transmits the electrical signal to the speaker 111. The speaker 111 converts the electrical signal to human-audible sound waves. The audio circuitry 110 also receives electrical signals converted by the microphone 113 from sound waves. The audio circuitry 110 converts the electrical signal to audio data and transmits the audio data to the peripherals interface 118 for processing. Audio data may be retrieved from and/or transmitted to memory 102 and/or the RF circuitry 108 by the peripherals interface 118. In some embodiments, the audio circuitry 110 also includes a headset jack (e.g. 212, FIG. 2). The headset jack provides an interface between the audio circuitry 110 and removable audio input/output peripherals, such as output-only headphones or a headset with both output (e.g., a headphone for one or both ears) and input (e.g., a microphone).

The I/O subsystem 106 couples input/output peripherals on the device 100, such as the touch screen 112 and other input/control devices 116, to the peripherals interface 118. The I/O subsystem 106 may include a display controller 156 and one or more input controllers 160 for other input or control devices. The one or more input controllers 160 receive/send electrical signals from/to other input or control devices 116. The other input/control devices 116 may include physical buttons (e.g., push buttons, rocker buttons, etc.), dials, slider switches, joysticks, click wheels, and so forth. In some alternate embodiments, input controller(s) 160 may be coupled to any (or none) of the following: a keyboard, infrared port, USB port, and a pointer device such as a mouse. The one or more buttons (e.g., 208, FIG. 2) may include an up/down button for volume control of the speaker 111 and/or the microphone 113. The one or more buttons may include a push button (e.g., 206, FIG. 2). A quick press of the push button may disengage a lock of the touch screen 112 or begin a process that uses gestures on the touch screen to unlock the device, as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/322,549, “Unlocking a Device by Performing Gestures on an Unlock Image,” filed Dec. 23, 2005, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. A longer press of the push button (e.g., 206) may turn power to the device 100 on or off. The user may be able to customize a functionality of one or more of the buttons. The touch screen 112 is used to implement virtual or soft buttons and one or more soft keyboards.

The touch-sensitive touch screen 112 provides an input interface and an output interface between the device and a user. The display controller 156 receives and/or sends electrical signals from/to the touch screen 112. The touch screen 112 displays visual output to the user. The visual output may include graphics, text, icons, video, and any combination thereof (collectively termed “graphics”). In some embodiments, some or all of the visual output may correspond to user-interface objects, further details of which are described below.

A touch screen 112 has a touch-sensitive surface, sensor or set of sensors that accepts input from the user based on haptic and/or tactile contact. The touch screen 112 and the display controller 156 (along with any associated modules and/or sets of instructions in memory 102) detect contact (and any movement or breaking of the contact) on the touch screen 112 and converts the detected contact into interaction with user-interface objects (e.g., one or more soft keys, icons, web pages or images) that are displayed on the touch screen. In an exemplary embodiment, a point of contact between a touch screen 112 and the user corresponds to a finger of the user.

The touch screen 112 may use LCD (liquid crystal display) technology, or LPD (light emitting polymer display) technology, although other display technologies may be used in other embodiments. The touch screen 112 and the display controller 156 may detect contact and any movement or breaking thereof using any of a plurality of touch sensing technologies now known or later developed, including but not limited to capacitive, resistive, infrared, and surface acoustic wave technologies, as well as other proximity sensor arrays or other elements for determining one or more points of contact with a touch screen 112.

A touch-sensitive display in some embodiments of the touch screen 112 may be analogous to the multi-touch sensitive tablets described in the following U.S. Pat. No. 6,323,846 (Westerman et al.), U.S. Pat, No. 6,570,557 (Westerman et al.), and/or U.S. Pat. No. 6,677,932 (Westerman), and/or U.S. Patent Publication 2002/0015024A1, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. However, a touch screen 112 displays visual output from the portable device 100, whereas touch sensitive tablets do not provide visual output.

The touch screen 112 may have a resolution in excess of 100 dpi. In an exemplary embodiment, the touch screen has a resolution of approximately 160 dpi. The user may make contact with the touch screen 112 using any suitable object or appendage, such as a stylus, a finger, and so forth. In some embodiments, the user interface is designed to work primarily with finger-based contacts and gestures, which are much less precise than stylus-based input due to the larger area of contact of a finger on the touch screen. In some embodiments, the device translates the rough finger-based input into a precise pointer/cursor position or command for performing the actions desired by the user.

In some embodiments, in addition to the touch screen, the device 100 may include a touchpad (not shown) for activating or deactivating particular functions. In some embodiments, the touchpad is a touch-sensitive area of the device that, unlike the touch screen, does not display visual output. The touchpad may be a touch-sensitive surface that is separate from the touch screen 112 or an extension of the touch-sensitive surface formed by the touch screen.

In some embodiments, the device 100 may include a physical or virtual click wheel as an input control device 116. A user may navigate among and interact with one or more graphical objects (henceforth referred to as icons) displayed in the touch screen 112 by rotating the click wheel or by moving a point of contact with the click wheel (e.g., where the amount of movement of the point of contact is measured by its angular displacement with respect to a center point of the click wheel). The click wheel may also be used to select one or more of the displayed icons. For example, the user may press down on at least a portion of the click wheel or an associated button. User commands and navigation commands provided by the user via the click wheel may be processed by an input controller 160 as well as one or more of the modules and/or sets of instructions in memory 102. For a virtual click wheel, the click wheel and click wheel controller may be part of the touch screen 112 and the display controller 156, respectively. For a virtual click wheel, the click wheel may be either an opaque or semitransparent object that appears and disappears on the touch screen display in response to user interaction with the device. In some embodiments, a virtual click wheel is displayed on the touch screen of a portable multifunction device and operated by user contact with the touch screen.

The device 100 also includes a power system 162 for powering the various components. The power system 162 may include a power management system, one or more power sources (e.g., battery, alternating current (AC)), a recharging system, a power failure detection circuit, a power converter or inverter, a power status indicator (e.g., a light-emitting diode (LED)) and any other components associated with the generation, management and distribution of power in portable devices.

The device 100 may also include one or more optical sensors 164. FIGS. 1A and 1B show an optical sensor coupled to an optical sensor controller 158 in I/O subsystem 106. The optical sensor 164 may include charge-coupled device (CCD) or complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) phototransistors. The optical sensor 164 receives light from the environment, projected through one or more lens, and converts the light to data representing an image. In conjunction with an imaging module 143 (also called a camera module), the optical sensor 164 may capture still images or video. In some embodiments, an optical sensor is located on the back of the device 100, opposite the touch screen display 112 on the front of the device, so that the touch screen display may be used as a viewfinder for either still and/or video image acquisition. In some embodiments, an optical sensor is located on the front of the device so that the user\'s image may be obtained for videoconferencing while the user views the other video conference participants on the touch screen display. In some embodiments, the position of the optical sensor 164 can be changed by the user (e.g., by rotating the lens and the sensor in the device housing) so that a single optical sensor 164 may be used along with the touch screen display for both video conferencing and still and/or video image acquisition.

The device 100 may also include one or more proximity sensors 166. FIGS. 1A and 1B show a proximity sensor 166 coupled to the peripherals interface 118. Alternately, the proximity sensor 166 may be coupled to an input controller 160 in the I/O subsystem 106. The proximity sensor 166 may perform as described in U.S. patent application Ser No. 11/241,839, “Proximity Detector In Handheld Device,” filed Sep. 30, 3005; Ser. No. 11/240,788, “Proximity Detector In Handheld Device,” filed Sep. 30, 3005; Ser. No. 11/620,702, “Using Ambient Light Sensor To Augment Proximity Sensor Output”; Ser. No. 11/586,862, “Automated Response To And Sensing Of User Activity In Portable Devices,” filed Oct. 24, 2006; and Ser.No. 11/638,251, “Methods And Systems For Automatic Configuration Of Peripherals,” which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. In some embodiments, the proximity sensor turns off and disables the touch screen 112 when the multifunction device is placed near the user\'s ear (e.g., when the user is making a phone call). In some embodiments, the proximity sensor keeps the screen off when the device is in the user\'s pocket, purse, or other dark area to prevent unnecessary battery drainage when the device is a locked state.

The device 100 may also include one or more accelerometers 168. FIGS. 1A and 1B show an accelerometer 168 coupled to the peripherals interface 118. Alternately, the accelerometer 168 may be coupled to an input controller 160 in the I/O subsystem 106. The accelerometer 168 may perform as described in U.S. Patent Publication No. 20050190059, “Acceleration-based Theft Detection System for Portable Electronic Devices,” and U.S. Patent Publication No. 20060017692, “Methods And Apparatuses For Operating A Portable Device Based On An Accelerometer,” both of which are which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. In some embodiments, information is displayed on the touch screen display in a portrait view or a landscape view based on an analysis of data received from the one or more accelerometers.

In some embodiments, the software components stored in memory 102 may include an operating system 126, a communication module (or set of instructions) 128, a contact/motion module (or set of instructions) 130, a graphics module (or set of instructions) 132, a text input module (or set of instructions) 134, a Global Positioning System (GPS) module (or set of instructions) 135, and applications (or set of instructions) 136.

The operating system 126 (e.g., Darwin, RTXC, LINUX, UNIX, OS X, WINDOWS, or an embedded operating system such as VxWorks) includes various software components and/or drivers for controlling and managing general system tasks (e.g., memory management, storage device control, power management, etc.) and facilitates communication between various hardware and software components.

The communication module 128 facilitates communication with other devices over one or more external ports 124 and also includes various software components for handling data received by the RF circuitry 108 and/or the external port 124. The external port 124 (e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB), FIREWIRE, etc.) is adapted for coupling directly to other devices or indirectly over a network (e.g., the Internet, wireless LAN, etc.). In some embodiments, the external port is a multi-pin (e.g., 30-pin) connector that is the same as, or similar to and/or compatible with the 30-pin connector used on iPod (trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.) devices.

The contact/motion module 130 may detect contact with the touch screen 112 (in conjunction with the display controller 156) and other touch sensitive devices (e.g., a touchpad or physical click wheel). The contact/motion module 130 includes various software components for performing various operations related to detection of contact, such as determining if contact has occurred, determining if there is movement of the contact and tracking the movement across the touch screen 112, and determining if the contact has been broken (i.e., if the contact has ceased). Determining movement of the point of contact may include determining speed (magnitude), velocity (magnitude and direction), and/or an acceleration (a change in magnitude and/or direction) of the point of contact. These operations may be applied to single contacts (e.g., one finger contacts) or to multiple simultaneous contacts (e.g., “multitouch”/multiple finger contacts). In some embodiments, the contact/motion module 130 and the display controller 156 also detects contact on a touchpad. In some embodiments, the contact/motion module 130 and the controller 160 detects contact on a click wheel.

The graphics module 132 includes various known software components for rendering and displaying graphics on the touch screen 112, including components for changing the intensity of graphics that are displayed. As used herein, the term “graphics” includes any object that can be displayed to a user, including without limitation text, web pages, icons (such as user-interface objects including soft keys), digital images, videos, animations and the like.

The text input module 134, which may be a component of graphics module 132, provides soft keyboards for entering text in various applications (e.g., contacts 137, e-mail 140, IM 141, blogging 142, browser 147, and any other application that needs text input).

The GPS module 135 determines the location of the device and provides this information for use in various applications (e.g., to telephone 138 for use in location-based dialing, to camera 143 and/or blogger 142 as picture/video metadata, and to applications that provide location-based services such as weather widgets, local yellow page widgets, and map/navigation widgets).

The applications 136 may include the following modules (or sets of instructions), or a subset or superset thereof:
a contacts module 137 (sometimes called an address book or contact list);
a telephone module 138;
a video conferencing module 139;
an e-mail client module 140;
an instant messaging (IM) module 141;
a blogging module 142;
a camera module 143 for still and/or video images;
an image management module 144;
a video player module 145;
a music player module 146;
a browser module 147;
a calendar module 148;

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